Simple Progress

Digital Marketing | Admin & Consulting

I work WITH AUTHORS, LITERARY AGENCIES & PUBLISHING HOUSES TO HELP ENGAGE READERS AND GROW FANBASES.

Providing a wide variety of customized digital marketing services to a small clientele of book publishing professionals, I do not offer a one-size-fits-all package, rather I typically start by evaluating a client’s current digital marketing efforts and then work with them to define one or more measurable goals and a strategic plan too achieve them.

My experience is primarily with single title campaigns, multi-title reissue campaigns and long term author-centric marketing strategies. Occasionally, I’m brought on by an author’s in-house marketing team to assess current practices and make actionable recommendations that enable them to efficiently overhaul and update their marketing efforts.

Simple Advice

find your STYLE

Design something pretty and you'll be good for a year or two. Develop a style guide to include fonts and a color palette that distinctly conveys your brand and you'll be able to refresh the design of your marketing assets while maintaining a familiar look for a decade or more.

BUILD WITH metrics

In addition to defining your style, it’s imperative to evaluate how your readers engage with your online presence verses how you want them to. Use existing metrics to develop your strategic goals and help ensure that your efforts are taking you in the direction that you want to go.

Use MODERN TOOLS

Your website CMS developer and email marketing service provider should be constantly updating their platforms. Simply put, if their product can’t keep with the rapidly evolving internet, your marketing practices won’t be able to either.

Pick your platform

Whether you are a "mobile first" fanatic or have just recently realized the growing trend, your primary platform is best determined by your audience's preferences and how you want them to engage with your online presence.

evaluate efforts

Digital marketing services should include more than one-time deliverables. Stand alone promotions should be followed up with reporting and analysis and ongoing marketing efforts should include routine evaluations to determine their value.

take ownership

All too often, authors take a back seat to marketing efforts that feature their name. Own your domain registration, insist on having admin level access to any online tool or services that you are paying for and ask pointed questions.

case studies

Nicholas SparksOngoing VALUE ASSESSMENT of Promotional Campaigns

The same way that a mailing list can not be measured by subscriber numbers alone, a promotion geared towards increasing a mailing list can not be measured solely by opt-ins acquired. In 2016, I began working on a special project to qualitatively access the success of three years worth of promotional campaigns. Opt-in retention and engagement were evaluated along side import numbers to genuinely identify the most successful campaigns. By taking a closer look at those promotions that “worked” we are able to develop future campaigns with a higher chance of long term success.

Emily Giffinadapting for mobile users

First hired as a sub-contractor back in 2009 by Works Progress Design, my task was to hand code a newly designed EmilyGiffin.com and transition her mailing list to a modern email marketing service provider. After the initial project wrapped, Emily asked that I stick around to manage her digital marketing services ongoing. In Dec 2013, closely watched metrics indicated that Emily's fanbase was rapidly shifting in their increased use of mobile devices. With over 50% of her audience viewing her marketing efforts via phones and tablets, we quickly rebuilt her website and email campaign templates to use a responsive layout. Even today, Emily's digital marketing efforts continue to adjust and evolve as her fan base rapidly gloms on to new technology trends.

ANNE STUARTlong term development

A decade ago, Anne Stuart reached out for help with her website. Working with a branding and design agency, we were able to create an original set of timeless graphic assets that perfectly captured her whimsical persona as well as her dark and dangerous characters. Over the years, those exact same assets have been able to be repurposed for three subsequent website and numerous email template re-builds to keep up with the quickly evolving world wide web and modern email marketing practices. In early 2017, Anne-Stuart.com will be revamped once again to encourage the author's new readers and loyal fanbase to explore her 100+ (and growing) works of fiction using her familiar look in an ultra modern website.

Nora Roberts / Debbie MacomberTransition Consulting

As the internet evolves so do digital marketing best practices. Selecting a modern service provider to replace a legacy one can be a daunting task as is transitioning an author’s website and email marketing assets from one platform to the other. In 2013 and 2014, I was hired by the in-house marketing teams for Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber respectively to migrate their email mailing list data, evaluate their current digital marketing practices and come up with strategic recommendations that would help streamline and modernize their efforts. Using my advice and reassurance, teams for both clients have gone on to confidently select new service providers, updating the methods and tools that currently power their refreshed websites and email marketing efforts.